Today and the Days Ahead

After much diligent preparation Thomas will be preaching today. Should you happen to read this before 7 am EST or 6 am CST or 8 pm Saturday PST (did that catch everyone? and correctly?), then please pray for him. Having not preached in Russian myself, I don’t completely understand the difficulties that Thomas faces as he prepares a sermon, but I can imagine the limitations that he feels when trying to express the beautiful truths of God’s Word in his second language. God has greatly helped him every time in the past, and we pray for His continued help today.

So that’s today, what about the days ahead?

Tuesday evening Thomas will begin a 2-week trip to Siberia. He will be meeting our field director Jim Capaldo in Krasnoyarsk, Russia before they start treking all over the place, far east of here. Please pray for his safety, health, Russian abilities, sleep, and whatever else you might think would be helpful. And please also pray for Isaiah and me as we stay behind. I’m sure that we’ll find plenty to do to keep us busy, but we will really miss Thomas!

A couple days after Thomas gets back, we will probably have a guest from Siberia with us for a few days. She is the director of InterAct Russia (which is actually not part of InterAct Ministries, but its own entity). She is planning a trip to the States this fall, therefore she must apply in person at an American consulate. There’s not an American consulate in Tuva where she lives, so she will be traveling to St. Petersburg. At least, that’s the plan for now.

July 13 we are anticipating a very special treat! Thomas’ older brother and his family (all 6 of them!) are coming for a 9 day visit! We could not be more excited! It really isn’t possible. Even now, as I think about their arrival, I feel all sorts of happy, fluttery feelings inside.

As I said, they’ll be with us for 9 nine days, during which time we’ll whisk them around the city to see all the beautiful sites and to experience what life is like for us. But we won’t make them go to a Russian lesson…I think.

After they leave us we’ll begin getting things ready for our own trip back to planet America. Sometime around August 4 (depending on plane ticket prices) we’ll be flying the friendly skies towards NC and our traveling time around the US. Look for more details to come soon about that trip.